LAHORE: The examination of more than 500 private and Safe City surveillance cameras in around 10-kilometre radius of the densely-populated several localities during the last 48 hours, has helped the police recover the newborn who was allegedly kidnapped by two veiled women from the Lahore General Hospital.

Resident of Kahna, the woman had delivered a boy some 10 years after her marriage.

She had undergone trauma when she came to know about the kidnap of her son from the labour room two days back.

The Model Town division SP, the Kot Lakhpat SHO and the investigation officers were deputed by Operations DIG Faisal Kamran for the recovery of the child.

A senior police official told Dawn that the women [apparently] took advantage of the ‘loopholes’ in the hospital’s mechanism of handing over the newborns to their parents.

As per the reports, he said, there was an elaborated system of separation between the mother and the newborn after birth in the labour, maternity ward and in the neonatal unit.

He said the women not only breached the hospital’s security mechanism but also managed to dodge the top administration.

He said they tried to dodge the law enforcers/police as they not only frequently changed the routes but also used various vehicles (rickshaw) to reach their destination after abducting the baby.

Soon after kidnap, the official said, the women booked a rickshaw and left it at a point to hire another three-wheeler and travelled for a certain distance.

From that point, the women walked for more than 1.5 kilometer and kept on watching their surroundings.

Later, they again hired another rickshaw and reached a home at Kamahan, some 10 kilometers away from the Lahore General Hospital.

He said multiple teams were tasked to work on the kidnap case after initial assessment that they may use three possible routes to escape from the LGH.

According to the official, the Safe City Authority played a decisive role in the recovery of the newborn.

“During the last 48 hours, we examined more than 500 privately installed cameras and those of the Safe City Authority,” he said.

Finally, some plainclothesmen who were assisting other officials reached a house where the women had entered along with the baby, he said, adding that they recovered the newborn and arrested both of them.

To a question, the official said police were questioning the women as to how they kidnapped the baby. “It seems the women had either bribed the lower staff or took advantage of the loopholes in the laid-down system at the hospital”.

As per the guidelines, he said: “The baby is handed over to the parents or other key family members after noting in the official record the thumb impressions of those taking custody of the child.”

“The police will investigate the staff members deputed in the gynae emergency ward at the time of the kidnap,” he said.

Later, the Model Town division investigation SP told a news conference that one of the women who kidnapped the baby was married and issueless. He said she was facing some domestic problems and planned to kidnap the child to secure her matrimonial life.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2025